Taming Your Mind

One of our mind’s most impressive features is its ability to bring information to consciousness that was gathered unconsciously through the application of selective filters. What we consciously perceive of the world around us is nothing but a fraction of all the information our minds constantly collect and process. At all times we see, hear, smell, taste, and feel the world that surrounds us. And not just the outside world—our inner world as well. Way too much information to experience consciously. We would go mad when we take the first step out of the bed. To keep us from insanity our mind generously filters which datum rises to our consciousness and which doesn’t.

When you focus on a specific characteristic—the filter category—your mind will apply this filter to the processing of all sensory input and present it to you, making it conscious. It is the same tool we use to flip our switch of happiness.

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Example: Close your eyes and think about the color red; visualize it in your mind. Then open your eyes and take a look around. You’ll instantly notice all kinds of red objects in your surroundings. These objects were always there, but now your mind brings this specific visual data gathered from your eyes to consciousness.

This process is fairly automatic and doesn’t require any effort from you. Nevertheless, you can learn to apply and change filters. Instead of letting your mind run on autopilot, you can practice to use it strategically. Suffice it to say that this is an utterly powerful tool to form your perception of the world and your ability to live a content, happy, productive, and generally successful life; whatever the specific characteristics of success may be for you.

The application of this tool is fairly simple. You take a minute to create and focus on a clear picture of what you want and visualize a specific situation or outcome. That’s it. Lean back patiently and witness how the magic unfolds.

• You want to work out but the gym is no option? Just visualize bars, benches, weights, and walls and you suddenly start noticing these things all around you.
• Don’t know where to take out your loved one? Just visualize the characteristics of the location that are important for you; maybe tranquility, seclusion, and a place to sit or perhaps a spot to swim, run, and dance. The moment you step out of the house your mind will present you all the options.

What’s the catch? You need to know what you want. On top of that, your mind will only give you as much data as you can consciously handle. David Allen puts that nicely when he states that our brains are for having ideas, not for storing them. The key is to store the data your mind presents you. So make sure to have a dedicated notebook (all-time favorite LEUCHTTURM1917 120gsm A5 dotted) or app on your phone right at hand.

I use the tool of selective filtering primarily to generate text and other content and to brainstorm concepts for my projects or business ideas. I start with creating a vision by simply focusing on the idea and its general framework and the selective filter in my mind starts pointing me to more and more puzzle pieces that ultimately contribute to the whole. Stories, text snippets, and ideas start coming to the surface of my consciousness. And the moment they arise, I skim them off like soup with a ladle and capture them. I let the ideas just flow and pour into my notes.

One of the most potent systems I’ve encountered is to combine the tool of selective filtering with the capturing tool. It gives me an infinite stream of creative ideas. This way I never start from scratch, I only restructure and refine.

This goes for sports, business ideas and opportunities, dating, living, traveling, and virtually every aspect of your material life. Always remember, that we notice only what matches our internal belief systems and identified contexts.

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